Search Legal Terms and Definitions

i.e.
prep. abbreviation for id est, which is Latin for "that is" or "that is to say." It is used to expand or explain a general term as in "his children (i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke and Joan)." It should not be confused with "e.g.," which means "for example."

illegal
1) adj. in violation of statute, regulation or ordinance, which may be criminal or merely not in conformity. Thus, an armed robbery is illegal, and so is an access road which is narrower than the county allows, but the violation is not criminal. 2) status of a person residing in a country of which h...

illegal immigrant
n. an alien (non-citizen) who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa.

illusory promise
n. an agreement to do something that is so indefinite one cannot tell what is to be done or the performance is optional (usually because it is just a gesture and not a true agreement). Therefore, the other party need not perform or pay since he/she got nothing in what he/she may have thought was a c...

immaterial
adj. a commonly heard objection to introducing evidence in a trial on the ground that it had nothing substantial to do with the case or any issue in the case. It can also apply to any matter (such as an argument or complaint) in a lawsuit which has no bearing on the issues to be decided in a trial. ...

immediately
adv. 1) at once. 2) in orders of the court or in contracts it means "as soon as can be done" without excuse.

immunity
n. exemption from penalties, payments or legal requirements, granted by authorities or statutes. Generally there are three types of immunity at law: a) a promise not to prosecute for a crime in exchange for information or testimony in a criminal matter, granted by the prosecutors, a judge, a grand j...

impaneling
n. the act of selecting a jury from the list of potential jurors, called the "panel" or "venire." The steps are 1) drawing names at random from a large number of jurors called; 2) seating 12 tentative jurors (or fewer where agreed to); 3) hearing individual juror requests for being excused, to be de...

impeach
v. 1) to discredit the testimony of a witness by proving that he/she has not told the truth or has been inconsistent, by introducing contrary evidence, including statements made outside of the courtroom in depositions or in statements of the witness heard by another. 2) to charge a public official w...

impeachment
n. 1) discrediting a witness by showing that he/she is not telling the truth or does not have the knowledge to testify as he/she did. 2) the trying of a public official for charges of illegal acts committed in the performance of public duty. It is not the conviction for the alleged crime nor the rem...

impleader
n. a procedural device before trial in which a party brings a third party into the lawsuit because that third party is the one who owes money to an original defendant, which money will be available to pay the original plaintiff. The theory is that two cases may be decided together and justice may be...

implied
adj., adv. referring to circumstances, conduct or statements of one or both parties which substitute for explicit language to prove authority to act, warranty, promise, trust, agreement, consent or easement, among other things. Thus circumstances "imply" something rather than spell it out.

implied consent
n. consent when surrounding circumstances exist which would lead a reasonable person to believe that this consent had been given, although no direct, express or explicit words of agreement had been uttered. Examples: a) a "contract" based on the fact that one person has been doing a particular thing...

implied contract
n. an agreement which is found to exist based on the circumstances when to deny a contract would be unfair and/or result in unjust enrichment to one of the parties. An implied contract is distinguished from an "express contract."

implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing
n. a general assumption of the law of contracts, that people will act in good faith and deal fairly without breaking their word, using shifty means to avoid obligations or denying what the other party obviously understood. A lawsuit (or one of the causes of action in a lawsuit) based on the breach o...

implied warranty
n. an assumption at law that products are "merchantable," meaning they work and are useable as normally expected by consumers, unless there is a warning that they are sold "as is" or second-hand without any warranty. A grant deed of real property carries the implied warranty of good title, meaning t...

impossibility
n. when an act cannot be performed due to nature, physical impediments or unforeseen events. It can be a legitimate basis to rescind (mutually cancel) a contract.

impotence
n. the male's inability to copulate. Impotence can be grounds for annulment of a marriage if the condition existed at the time of the marriage and grounds for divorce whenever it occurs under the laws of 26 states. It should not be confused with sterility, which means inability to produce children.

impound
v. 1) to collect funds, in addition to installment payments, from a person who owes a debt secured by property, and place them in a special account to pay property taxes and insurance when due. This protects the lender or seller from the borrower's possible failure to keep up the insurance or a moun...

improvement
n. any permanent structure on real property, or any work on the property (such as planting trees) which increases its value.

impute
v. 1) to attach to a person responsibility (and therefore financial liability) for acts or injuries to another, because of a particular relationship, such as mother to child, guardian to ward, employer to employee or business associates. Example: a 16-year-old boy drives his father's car without a l...

in absentia
(in ab-sensh-ee-ah) adj. or adv. phrase. Latin for "in absence," or more fully, in one's absence. Occasionally a criminal trial is conducted without the defendant being present when he/she walks out or escapes after the trial has begun, since the accused has thus waived the constitutional right to f...

in camera
adj. or adv. phrase. Latin for "in chambers." This refers to a hearing or discussions with the judge in the privacy of his chambers (office rooms) or when spectators and jurors have been excluded from the courtroom.

in chambers
adj. referring to discussions or hearings held in the judge's office, called his chambers. It is also called "in camera."

in forma pauperis
(in form-ah paw-purr-iss) adj. or adv. Latin for "in the form of a pauper," referring to a party to a lawsuit who gets filing fees waived by filing a declaration of lack of funds (has no money to pay). These declarations are most often found in divorces by young marrieds or poor defendants who have ...

in haec verba
(in hike verb-ah)prep. Latin for "in these words," which refers to stating the exact language of an agreement in a complaint or other pleading rather than attaching a copy of the agreement as an exhibit incorporated into the pleading.

in kind
adj. referring to payment, distribution or substitution of things in lieu of money, a combination of goods and money, or money instead of an article. It is an expression often found in wills and trusts, which empowers the executor or trustee to make distribution to beneficiaries "in kind" according ...

in lieu
prep. instead. "In lieu taxes" are use taxes paid instead of sales tax. A "deed in lieu of foreclosure" occurs when a debtor just deeds the property securing the loan to the lender rather than go through the foreclosure process.

in limine
(in lim-in-ay) from Latin for "at the threshold," referring to a motion before a trial begins. A motion to suppress illegally obtained evidence is such a motion.

in loco parentis
prep. (in loh-coh pah-rent-iss) Latin for "instead of a parent" or "in place of a parent," this phrase identifies a foster parent, a county custodial agency or a boarding school which is taking care of a minor, including protecting his/her rights. Thus, Boys' Town is legally in loco parentis to John...

in pari delicto
adv. (in pah-ree dee-lick-toe) Latin for "in equal fault," which means that two (or more) people are all at fault or are all guilty of a crime. In contract law, if the fault is more or less equal then neither party can claim breach of the contract by the other; in an accident, neither can collect da...

in perpetuity
adj. forever, as in one's right to keep the profits from the land in perpetuity.

in personam
adj. (in purr-soh-nam) from Latin for "directed toward a particular person." In a lawsuit in which the case is against a specific individual, that person must be served with a summons and complaint to give the court jurisdiction to try the case, and the judgment applies to that person and is called ...

in propria persona
adj. from Latin "for one's self," acting on one's own behalf, generally used to identify a person who is acting as his/her own attorney in a lawsuit. The popular abbreviation is "in pro per." In the filed legal documents (pleadings), the party's name, address and telephone number are written where t...

in re
prep. short for "in regard to" or concerning. Often "in re" is found near the top of lawyers' letters to identify the subject matter, as "In re Matheson v. Roth," or "In re Estate of Ruth Bentley." It is also used in naming legal actions in which there is only one party, the petitioning party, as in...

in rem
adj. from Latin "against or about a thing," referring to a lawsuit or other legal action directed toward property, rather than toward a particular person. Thus, if title to property is the issue, the action is "in rem." The term is important since the location of the property determines which court ...

in terrorem clause
(in tehr-roar-em)n. from Latin for "in fear," a provision in a will which threatens that if anyone challenges the legality of the will or any part of it, then that person will be cut off or given only a dollar, instead of getting the full gift provided in the will. The clause is intended to discoura...

in toto
(in toe-toe)adj. Latin for "completely" or "in total," referring to the entire thing, as in "the goods were destroyed in toto," or "the case was dismissed in toto."

incapacity
adj. 1) not being able to perform any gainful employment due to congenital disability, illness (including mental), physical injury, advanced age or intellectual deficiency. This is significant in claims for worker's compensation, disability insurance, or Social Security claims under "SSI." 2) lackin...

incest
n. sexual intercourse between close blood relatives, including brothers and sisters, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, or aunts or uncles with nephews or nieces. It is a crime in all states, even if consensual by both parties. However, it is often co-existent with sexual abuse si...

inchoate
adj. or adv. referring to something which has begun but has not been completed, either an activity or some object which is incomplete. It may define a potential crime like a conspiracy which has been started but not perfected or finished (buying the explosives, but not yet blowing up the bank safe),...

incidental beneficiary
n. someone who obtains a benefit as the result of the main purpose of the trust. Example: the co-owner of property with a named beneficiary may benefit from moneys provided to improve the building they jointly own, or a grandchild might benefit from his/her parent receiving a gift which could be use...

income
n. money, goods or other economic benefit received. Under income tax laws, income can be "active" through one's efforts or work (including management) or "passive" from rentals, stock dividends, investments and interest on deposits in which there is neither physical effort nor management. For tax pu...

income tax
n. a tax on an individual's net income, after deductions for various expenses and payments such as charitable gifts, calculated on a formula which takes into consideration whether it is paid jointly by a married couple, the number of dependents of the taxpayers, special breaks for ages over 65, disa...

incompatibility
n. the state of a marriage in which the spouses no longer have the mutual desire to live together and/or stay married, and is thus a ground for divorce (dissolution) in most states even though one spouse may disagree.

incompatible
adj. 1) inconsistent. 2) unmatching. 3) unable to live together as husband and wife due to irreconcilable differences. In no-fault divorce states, if one of the spouses desires to end the marriage, that fact proves incompatibility, and a divorce (dissolution) will be granted even though the other sp...

incompetency
n. the condition of lacking the ability to handle one's affairs due to mental or physical incapacity. Before a condition of incompetency is officially declared by a court, a hearing must be held with the person who is involved interviewed by a court investigator; the person must be present and/or re...

incompetent
adj. 1) referring to a person who is not able to manage his/her affairs due to mental deficiency (low I.Q., deterioration, illness or psychosis) or sometimes physical disability. Being incompetent can be the basis for appointment of a guardian or conservator (after a hearing in which the party who m...

incompetent evidence
n. testimony, documents or things which one side attempts to present as evidence during trial, which the court finds (usually after objection by the opposition) are not admissible because they are irrelevant or immaterial to the issues in the lawsuit. Thus, trial lawyers often object with: "incompet...

incontrovertible evidence
n. evidence introduced to prove a fact in a trial which is so conclusive, that by no stretch of the imagination can there be any other truth as to that matter. Examples: a fingerprint which shows someone had been present in a room, or a blood test which scientifically proves that a person is not the...

incorporate
v. 1) to obtain an official charter or articles of incorporation from the state for an organization, which may be a profit-making business, a professional business such as a law office or medical office or a non-profit entity which operates for charitable, social, religious, civic or other public se...

incorporate by reference
v. to include language from another document or elsewhere in a document by reference rather than repeat it. Typical language: "Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations contained in the First and Second Causes of Action hereinabove stated."

incorporeal
adj. referring to a thing which is not physical, such as a right. This is distinguished from tangible.

incriminate
v. to make a statement in which one admits that he/she has committed a crime or gives information that another named person has committed a crime. Under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, a person cannot be forced to give any information which would tend to incriminate himself/herself. Thus, h...

indecent exposure
n. the crime of displaying one's genitalia to one or more other people in a public place, usually with the apparent intent to shock the unsuspecting viewer and give the exposer a sexual charge.

indefeasible
adj. cannot be altered or voided, usually in reference to an interest in real property.

indemnify
v. to guarantee against any loss which another might suffer. Example: two parties settle a dispute over a contract, and one of them may agree to pay any claims which may arise from the contract, holding the other harmless.

indemnity
n. the act of making someone "whole" (give equal to what they have lost) or protected from (insured against) any losses which have occurred or will occur.

indenture
n. a type of real property deed in which two parties agree to continuing mutual obligations. One party may agree to maintain the property, while the other agrees to make periodic payments. 2) a contract binding one person to work for another. 3) v. to bind a person to work for another.

independent contractor
n. a person or business which performs services for another person or entity under a contract between them, with the terms spelled out such as duties, pay, the amount and type of work and other matters. An independent contractor is distinguished from an employee, who works regularly for an employer....

indeterminate sentence
n. the prison term imposed after conviction for a crime which does not state a specific period of time or release date, but just a range of time, such as "five-to-ten years." It is one side of a continuing debate as to whether it is better to make sentences absolute (subject to reduction for good be...

indicia
n. (in-dish-yah) from Latin for "signs," circumstances which tend to show or indicate that something is probable. It is used in the form of "indicia of title," or "indicia of partnership," particularly when the "signs" are items like letters, certificates or other things that one would not have unle...

indictable offense
n. a crime (offense) for which a Grand Jury rules that there is enough evidence to charge a defendant with a felony (a crime punishable by death or a term in the state penitentiary). These crimes include murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, grand theft, robbery, burglary, arson, conspiracy, fraud...

indictment
n. a charge of a felony (serious crime) voted by a Grand Jury based upon a proposed charge, witnesses' testimony and other evidence presented by the public prosecutor (District Attorney). To bring an indictment the Grand Jury will not find guilt, but only the probability that a crime was committed, ...

indigent
1) n. a person so poor and needy that he/she cannot provide the necessities of life (food, clothing, decent shelter) for himself/herself. 2) n. one without sufficient income to afford a lawyer for defense in a criminal case. If the court finds a person is an indigent, the court must appoint a public...

indispensable party
n. a person or entity which must be included in a lawsuit so that the court can make a final judgment or order that will conclude the controversy. Example: Ned Neighbor brings an action to enforce his claimed right to cross the property of Oliver and Olivia Owner, but only names Oliver as a defendan...

infancy
n. although the popular use of the word means the early years of age up to seven, in law, it is under-age or minority. Historically this meant under 21 years, but statutes adopted in almost all states end minority and infancy at 18. An "infant" cannot file a lawsuit without a "guardian ad litem" (on...

inference
n. a rule of logic applied to evidence in a trial, in which a fact is "proved" by presenting other "facts" which lead to only one reasonable conclusion-that if A and B are true, then C is. The process is called "deduction" or "deductive reasoning" and is a persuasive form of circumstantial evidence.

information
n. an accusation or criminal charge brought by the public prosecutor (District Attorney) without a Grand Jury indictment. This "information" must state the alleged crimes in writing and must be delivered to the defendant at the first court appearance (arraignment). If the accusation is for a felony,...

information and belief
n. a phrase often used in legal pleadings (complaints and answers in a lawsuit), declarations under penalty of perjury, and affidavits under oath, in which the person making the statement or allegation qualifies it. In effect, he/she says: "I am only stating what I have been told, and I believe it."...

informed consent
n. agreement to do something or to allow something to happen only after all the relevant facts are known. In contracts, an agreement may be reached only if there has been full disclosure by both parties of everything each party knows which is significant to the agreement. A patient's consent to a me...

infra
prep. Latin for "below," this is legal shorthand to indicate that the details or citation of a case will come later on in the brief. Infra is distinguished from supra, which shows that a case has already been cited "above." The typical language is Jones v. McLaughlin, infra, meaning the exact citati...

infringement
n. 1) a trespassing or illegal entering. 2) in the law of patents (protected inventions) and copyrights (protected writings or graphics), the improper use of a patent, writing, graphic or trademark without permission, without notice, and especially without contracting for payment of a royalty. Even ...

ingress
1) n. entrance. 2) n. the right to enter. 3) v. the act of entering. Often used in the combination "ingress and egress," which means entering and leaving, to describe one's rights to come and go under an easement over another's property.

inherit
v. to receive all or a portion of the estate of an ancestor upon his/her death, usually from a parent or other close relative pursuant to the laws of descent. Technically, one would "inherit" only if there is no will, but popularly it means any taking from the estate of a relative, including a wife ...

inheritance
n. whatever one receives upon the death of a relative due to the laws of descent and distribution, when there is no will. However, inheritance has come to mean anything received from the estate of a person who has died, whether by the laws of descent or as a beneficiary of a will or trust.

injunction
n. a writ (order) issued by a court ordering someone to do something or prohibiting some act after a court hearing. The procedure is for someone who has been or is in danger of being harmed, or needs some help (relief) or his/her attorney, to a) petition for the injunction to protect his/her rights;...

injunctive relief
n. a court-ordered act or prohibition against an act or condition which has been requested, and sometimes granted, in a petition to the court for an injunction. Such an act is the use of judicial (court) authority to handle a problem and is not a judgment for money. Whether the relief will be grante...

injury
n. any harm done to a person by the acts or omissions of another. Injury may include physical hurt as well as damage to reputation or dignity, loss of a legal right or breach of contract. If the party causing the injury was either willful (intentionally causing harm) or negligent then he/she is resp...

innocent
adj. without guilt (not guilty). Usually the plea which an accused criminal defendant gives to the court at the time of his/her first appearance (or after a continued appearance). Such pleas often disturb the public in cases in which guilt seems obvious from the start. However, everyone is entitled ...

innuendo
n. from Latin innuere, "to nod toward." In law it means "an indirect hint." "Innuendo" is used in lawsuits for defamation (libel or slander), usually to show that the party suing was the person about whom the nasty statements were made or why the comments were defamatory. Example: "the former Mayor ...

inquest
n. 1) an investigation and/or a hearing held by the coroner (a county official) when there is a violent death either by accident or homicide, the cause of death is not immediately clear, there are mysterious circumstances surrounding the death, or the deceased was a prisoner. Usually an autopsy by a...

insanity
n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Insanity is distinguished from low intelligence or mental deficiency due to age or injury. If a compla...

insanity defense
n. the claim of a defendant in a criminal prosecution that he/she was insane when the crime was committed, usually only temporarily.

insertion
n. the addition of language at a place within an existing typed or written document, which is always suspect unless initialled by all parties.

insider
n. someone who has a position in a business or stock brokerage, which allows him/her to be privy to confidential information (such as future changes in management, upcoming profit and loss reports, secret sales figures and merger negotiations) which will affect the value of stocks or bonds. While th...

insider trading
n. the use of confidential information about a business gained through employment in a company or a stock brokerage, to buy and/or sell stocks and bonds based on the private knowledge that the value will go up or down. The victims are the unsuspecting investing public. It is a crime under the Securi...

insolvency
n. 1) the condition of having more debts (liabilities) than total assets which might be available to pay them, even if the assets were mortgaged or sold. 2) a determination by a bankruptcy court that a person or business cannot raise the funds to pay all of his/her debts. The court will then "discha...

inspection of documents
n. the right to examine and copy the opposing party's papers in a lawsuit which are relevant to the case. A demand (legal request) may be made, but the categories of documents must be stated so that the other party can know what he/she must produce. If the opposition either refuses to produce some d...

installment contract
n. an agreement in which payments of money, delivery of goods or performance of services are to be made in a series of payments, deliveries or performances, usually on specific dates or upon certain happenings. One significance is that failure to pay an installment when due is a breach in which dama...

instruction
n. an explanation of the law governing a case which the judge gives orally to the jury after the attorneys have presented all the evidence and have made final arguments, but before the jury begins deliberations.

instrument
n. 1) a written legal document such as a contract, lease, deed, will or bond. 2) an object used to perform some task or action, ranging from a surgeon's scalpel to any hard thing used in an assault (a blunt instrument).

insufficient evidence
n. a finding (decision) by a trial judge or an appeals court that the prosecution in a criminal case or a plaintiff in a lawsuit has not proved the case because the attorney did not present enough convincing evidence. Insufficient evidence usually results in dismissal of the case after the prosecuti...

insurance
n. a contract (insurance policy) in which the insurer (insurance company) agrees for a fee (insurance premiums) to pay the insured party all or a portion of any loss suffered by accident or death. The losses covered by the policy may include property damage or loss from accident, fire, theft or inte...

insured
n. 1) the person or entity who will be compensated for loss by an insurer under the terms of a contract called an insurance policy. 2) the person whose life is insured by life insurance, after whose death the benefits go to others.

insurer
n. an insurance company which agrees to pay someone who pays them for insurance for losses suffered pursuant to the terms of an insurance policy. For this benefit the customer pays the company a fee, called a premium.

intangible property
n. items such as stock in a company which represent value but are not actual, tangible objects.

integration
n. 1) adopting a writing as part of an agreement, e.g. "the parties agree that Robert's Rules of Order shall be the procedural rules employed during negotiations." 2) removing barriers to schooling, housing and employment which formerly segregated races, particularly blacks and sometimes Hispanics, ...

intent
n. mental desire and will to act in a particular way, including wishing not to participate. Intent is a crucial element in determining if certain acts were criminal. Occasionally a judge or jury may find that "there was no criminal intent." Example: lack of intent may reduce a charge of manslaughter...

inter alia
(in-tur eh-lee-ah) prep. Latin for "among other things." This phrase is often found in legal pleadings and writings to specify one example out of many possibilities. Example: "The judge said, inter alia, that the time to file the action had passed."

inter se
(in-tur say)prep. Latin for "among themselves," meaning that, for instance, certain corporate rights are limited only to the shareholders or only to the trustees as a group.

inter vivos
(in-tur veye-vohs) adj. Latin for "among the living," usually referring to the transfer of property by agreement between living persons and not by a gift through a will. It can also refer to a trust (inter vivos trust) which commences during the lifetime of the person (trustor or settlor) creating t...

inter vivos trust
n. a trust created by a writing (declaration of trust) which commences at that time, while the creator (called a trustor or settlor) is alive, sometimes called a "living trust." The property is then placed in trust with a trustee (often the trustor during his/her lifetime) and distribution will take...

interest
n. 1) any and all, partial or total right to property or for the use of property, including an easement to pass over a neighboring parcel of land, the right to drill for oil, a possibility of acquiring title upon the happening of some event, or outright title. While most often referring to real prop...

interim order
n. a temporary order of the court pending a hearing, trial, a final order or while awaiting an act by one of the parties.

interlineation
n. the act of writing between the lines of a document, usually to add something that was omitted or thought of later. The issue (debated question) is whether both parties to a document (a contract, for example) had agreed upon the addition or whether the new words were part of the document (like a w...

interlocutory
adj. provisional and not intended to be final. This usually refers to court orders which are temporary.

interlocutory decree
n. a court judgment which is temporary and not intended to be final until either a) other matters come before the judge, or b) there is a specified passage of time to determine if the interlocutory decree (judgment) is "working" (becomes accepted by both parties) and should become final. Interlocuto...

international law
n. treaties between countries; multi-lateral agreements; some commissions covering particular subjects, such as whaling or copyrights; procedures and precedents of the International Court of Justice ("World Court") which only has jurisdiction when countries agree to appear; the United Nations Charte...

interpleader
n. the procedure when two parties are involved in a lawsuit over the right to collect a debt from a third party, who admits the money is owed but does not know which person to pay. The debtor deposits the funds with the court ("interpleads"), asks the court to dismiss him/her/it from the lawsuit and...

interrogation
n. questioning of a suspect or witness by law enforcement authorities. Once a person being questioned is arrested (is a "prime" suspect), he/she is entitled to be informed of his/her legal rights, and in no case may the interrogation violate rules of due process.

interrogatories
n. a set of written questions to a party to a lawsuit asked by the opposing party as part of the pre-trial discovery process. These questions must be answered in writing under oath or under penalty of perjury within a specified time (such as 30 days). Several states ask basic "form" interrogatories ...

interstate commerce
n. commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the federal government according to powers spelled out in Article I of the Constitution. The federal government can also regulate commerce within a state when it may impact interstate...

intervene
v. to obtain the court's permission to enter into a lawsuit which has already started between other parties and to file a complaint stating the basis for a claim in the existing lawsuit. Such intervention will be allowed only if the party wanting to enter into the case has some right or interest in ...

intervening cause
n. an event which occurs between the original improper or dangerous action and the damage itself. Thus, the "causal connection" between the wrong and damages is broken by the intervening cause. This is a "but for" situation, in which the intervention becomes the real reason harm resulted. The result...

intervention
n. the procedure under which a third party may join an on-going lawsuit, providing the facts and the law issues apply to the intervenor as much as to one of the existing contestants. The determination to allow intervention is made by a judge after a petition to intervene and a hearing on the issue. ...

intestacy
n. the condition of having died without a valid will. In such a case if the dead party has property it will be distributed according to statutes, primarily by the law of descent and distribution and others dealing with marital property and community property. In probate the administration of the est...

intestate
adj. referring to a situation where a person dies without leaving a valid will. This usually is voiced as "he died intestate," "intestate estate," or "intestate succession."

intestate succession
n. the distribution when a person dies without leaving a valid will and the spouse and heirs will take (receive the possessions) by the laws of descent and distribution and marital rights in the estate which may apply to a surviving spouse. Collectively these are called the laws of intestate success...

intoxication
n. 1) the condition of being drunk as the result of drinking alcoholic beverages and/or use of narcotics. In the eyes of the law this definition may differ depending on the situation to which it is applied. 2) as it applies to drunk driving (DUI, DWI) the standard of intoxication varies by state bet...

intrinsic fraud
n. an intentionally false representation (lie) which is part of the fraud and can be considered in determining general and punitive damages. This is distinguished from extrinsic fraud (collateral fraud) which was a deceptive means to keeping one from enforcing his/her legal rights.

inure
v. result in. Commonly used in legal terminology in the phrase: "to inure to the benefit of Janet Jones."

invasion of privacy
n. the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause, which can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. However, public personages are not protected in most situations, since they have placed ...

inverse condemnation
n. the taking of property by a government agency which so greatly damages the use of a parcel of real property that it is the equivalent of condemnation of the entire property. Thus the owner claims he/she is entitled to payment for the loss of the property (in whole or in part) under the constituti...

invest
v. to put money into a business or buy property or securities for the purpose of eventually obtaining a profit. This is distinguished from a gift or a loan made merely to accommodate a friend or taking a complete gamble.

investment
n. the money put into use for profit, or the property or business interest purchased for profit.

invitee
n. a person who comes onto another's property, premises or business establishment upon invitation. The invitation may be direct and express or "implied," as when a shop is open and the public is expected to enter to inspect, purchase or otherwise do business on the premises. It may be legally import...

involuntary
adj. or adv. without intent, will or choice. Participation in a crime is involuntary if forced by immediate threat to life or health of oneself or one's loved ones and will result in dismissal or acquittal.

ipse dixit
(ip-sah dicks-it) v. Latin for "he himself said it," meaning the only proof we have of the fact is that this person said it.

ipso facto
(ip-soh fact-toe)prep. Latin for "by the fact itself." An expression more popular with comedians imitating lawyers than with lawyers themselves. A simple example: "a blind person, ipso facto, is not entitled to a driver's license."

irreconcilable differences
n. the usual basis for granting a divorce (dissolution) in no-fault divorce states. If one party says the marriage is irretrievable and refuses to reconcile then such differences are proved to exist.

irrelevant
adj. not important, pertinent, or germane to the matter at hand or to any issue before the court. This is the most common objection raised by attorneys to questions asked or to answers given during testimony in a trial. The objection is made as soon as an alert attorney believes the opposition is go...

irreparable damage or injury
n. the type of harm which no monetary compensation can cure or put conditions back the way they were, such as cutting down shade trees, polluting a stream, not giving a child needed medication, not supporting an excavation which may cause collapse of a building, tearing down a structure, or a host o...

issue
1) n. a person's children or other lineal descendants such as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It does not mean all heirs, but only the direct bloodline. Occasionally, there is a problem in determining whether a writer of a will or deed meant issue to include descendants beyond his or her imme...